Chelsea – West Ham: Narrow Chelsea Win After Second Half Improvement (1-0)

Chelsea dominated possession and territory in the first half but lacked cutting edge. More attacking intent from West Ham in the second half helped raise the tempo of the game, which ultimately benefited Chelsea. After a missed penalty and West Ham red card, Chelsea eventually got a winner from substitute Christian Pulisic. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

Chelsea came into this game on the back of a disappointing midweek result against Arsenal. Thomas Tuchel started with a 3-4-1-2 shape, with a back three of Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva and César Azpilicueta. Ruben Loftus-Cheek was once again deployed as a wing-back, with Marcos Alonso on the other side. Mason Mount was the number ten ahead of a midfield duo of Jorginho and N'Golo Kanté, while Kai Havertz and Timo Werner were the most advanced attackers.

David Moyes also opted for a back three, while also resting key players ahead of their Europa League clash with Eintracht Frankfurt in the week. This meant that the likes of Declan Rice, Jarod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini started on the bench. In their back three then was the trio of Ben Johnson, Craig Dawson and Aaron Cresswell, with Vladimír Coufal and Arthur Masuaku at wing-back. Mark Noble was brought in to partner Tomáš Souček in midfield, while Andriy Yarmolenko and Saïd Benrahma were supported by Pablo Fornals in their 3-4-1-2 shape.

First half stalemate

Aside from a couple of high-pressing scenes at the start of the game, West Ham’s game plan was generally to sit back in . . .